The Beach and Other Stories

Contemporary Tropisms

At home or in public space, images are everywhere. They seduce the eye, blur our shared stories and orient our future. For choreographer and dancer Maria Kefirova, they are rivers of meaning that a mere gesture of tenderness can reactivate. The Beach and Other Stories is a solo piece about photographic infiltration, that it is created in full complicity with the audience.

Somewhere between a neighborhood alley and a darkroom, a storyteller short-circuits the suggestive power of images, recasting our imaginary worlds and rewriting our stories. She lets herself drift from one photograph to another, slips among the various protagonists, comments, laughs, and recounts her own story. Her gestures and words flow along a current that runs freely, activating our sightlines, our memories, the material before us: a jubilant dance inspired by fiction, a rediscovery of the graceful art of play.

Produced by Maria Kefirova + Danse-Cité
Concept, choreography and performance Maria Kefirova
Text Maria Kefirova + Michael Martini
Dramaturgical support Hanako Hoshimi-Caines
Advisors Diego Gil + Sophie Corriveau
Lighting Design Karine Gauthier
Costume Design Jade Tong Cuong
Sound Design Nicolas Basque + Maria Kefirova
Visual Design Consultant Johan Deschuymer
Consultants Mladen Alexiev + Mila Mineva + Jacob Wren + Sebastian Kann + Mira Todorova
Photos Bulgarian Visual Archive – Olivier Tullie
Surtitles translation Elaine Normandeau
Surtitles Operator Benoît Isabelle

Co-produced by Festival TransAmériques
With the support of Agora de la danse + Créations Estelle Clareton + Studios Solidaires  ̶ Diagramme – gestion culturelle   
Creative residencies Stable + MAI | Montréal, arts interculturels + Toplotsentrala Centre for Contemporary Art (Sofia)

Premiered at Festival TransAmériques, on June 2, 2023

Presented in association with Agora de la danse + Tangente

Written by Myriam Stéphanie Perraton-Lambert
Translated by Jeff Moore